The visitors, Sri Lanka led by the stand-in skipper Anushka Sanjeewani clinched the first T20I by seven wickets to go 1-0 up in the two-match T20I series against the hosts, Ireland. Sri Lanka’s star in the recently concluded ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup final, Harshitha Samarawickrama was awarded the Player of the Match for her career-best performance (86* off 45 balls) with the bat in the 1st T20I. Gaby Lewis 2nd T20I century, Orla Prendergast’s all-round show guides Ireland to a series-leveling win.
Ireland skipper Laura Delany won the toss and opted to bat first in the 2nd T20I at Pembroke Cricket Club, Sandymount, Dublin. The Ireland openers Gaby Lewis and wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter got their side off to a steady start with a 20-run opening partnership. Shashini Gimhani picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper Amy Hunter to provide the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Orla Prendergast joined Gaby Lewis at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 119-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side close to the 140-run mark. The duo provided a solid platform for a blockbuster finish. Achini Kulasuriya picked up the wicket of Orla Prendergast to provide the much-needed breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
The home side, Ireland eventually ended up with a total of 173/3 in their quota of overs. The 34-run 3rd wicket partnership between Gaby Lewis and Rebecca Stokell took them past the 170-run mark. Gaby Lewis completed her well-deserved 2nd T20I century before getting dismissed on the final ball of the innings courtesy of a run-out. She now has the highest individual score by an Ireland batter in the T20I format, surpassing wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter’s (101* off 66 balls Vs Zimbabwe in January, earlier this year).
Gaby Lewis (119 off 75 balls), and Orla Prendergast (38 off 31 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Ireland. Shashini Gimhani (3-0-24-1), Achini Kulasuriya (4-0-36-1), and Kavisha Dilhari (3-0-21-0) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka. Chasing a target of 174, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne in the 2nd over of the run chase, after a flying start to their innings.
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Orla Prendergast provided the first breakthrough for Ireland. Hasini Perera joined Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a 19-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Ava Canning picked up the wicket of Hasini Perera to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Kavisha Dilhari joined Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 72-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side past the 100-run mark.
Jane Maguire cleaned up Harshitha Samarawickrama to provide the much-needed 3rd breakthrough for Ireland. Nilakshika Silva joined Kavisha Dilhari at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 22-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side past the 120-run mark. Sri Lanka was eventually restricted to 166/7 in their quota of overs, falling short of the target by seven runs.
The visitors, Sri Lanka kept losing, wickets at regular intervals and as a result, could not form a substantial partnership on a consistent basis. Harshitha Samarawickrama (65 off 44 balls), Kavisha Dilhari (51 off 48 balls), Ama Kanchana (11 off 7 balls), and Hasini Perera (10 off 8 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Orla Prendergast (4-0-28-2), Freya Sargent (4-0-36-2), Jane Maguire (4-0-26-1), and Ava Canning (2-0-10-1) were the top performers with the ball for Ireland. The Ireland opening batter Gaby Lewis was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional, match-winning performance (119 off 75 balls) with the bat. She became the 2nd youngest player at the age of 23 years and 139 days to score two centuries in the T20I format after Prosscovia Alako (21 years and 221 days) from Uganda.